Meet the Australian version of the Central Park Mandarin Duck.
A pet duck, fondly called “Duck” has become a surfing phenomenon on Australia’s Gold Coast, where it regularly rides the waves of Rainbow Bay.
“I would confidently say he’s the only duck like him in the world,” owner Kate Miller gushed to the BBC.
Miller adopted 8-year-old Duck to cheer her up during the coronavirus pandemic – and had no idea she’d be raising a local celebrity.
“I could write a book about people’s reactions. Everyone is amazed and intrigued, and he always draws a crowd, ”said Miller.
The family started taking Duck to the beach for surf trips, and he quickly got out on the water.
“We would catch a wave and he would just follow us and realize it was fun,” said Miller, who said Duck loves surfing so much that he is picking up signs that Miller is heading for the beach.
“When we open the bottle of sunscreen, it really smells like it,” Miller said.
Duck is reminiscent of the multi-colored Mandarin Duck that drew crowds to the Central Park pond in late 2018.